August Openeds Reviews

August saw a lot of new products — and a lot of new brands for me! How I’ve managed to be into skincare for so long without trying famous brands like Some By Mi or Sunday Riley, or even less famous but still popular ones like Mizon, Abib or Ample:N I don’t know, but I guess I do just have the one face.

🛁 Neutrogena Body Oil

Long-time readers will know of my obsession with baths — and the obsession with body oils that follows. As an avid bather, I NEED oil in the bath in order to keep my skin barrier from getting absolutely wrecked. This Neutrogena Body Oil has historically been my go to, since it dissolves easily in the bath while sustaining its moisturizing benefits. The Fragrance Free version is far superior (I swear this version smells a bit like a pool) but much harder to find. Some folks use this as a pretty cost-effective first cleanse, though I still prefer cleansing balms.
Price: $13 USD / 250 mL

🍶 MIZON Skin Power Original First Essence

This product is harkening back to my early skincare days — a mini of a brand I’d never tried before. But I’m obsessed with first essences with galactomyces, and so the Mizon First Essence delivers. Within a week of switching onto this (from the Neogen Microferment Essence), I noticed my pores start to shrink and my persistent redness, particularly on my chin, start to diminish. This first essence — so named because it’s intended to be the first step of your skincare routine after cleansing, even before toner — has 94.5% galactomyces, as well as some extra skin-beneficial ingredients like niacinamide, cocoa extract and coptis japonica root extract. Those with acne-prone or sensitive skin should probably tread lightly, as this also includes castor oil and a few essential oils.
Price: $22 USD / 210 mL for full-size; pictured in the mini size

🍃 COSRX Green Hero Calming Pads

I typically don’t go in for toner pads, but I won these Cosrx Green Hero Calming Pads as part of their cica line giveaway (should it have been the cica pads? Maybe. Was it? No. Not sure if they were released last November, to be honest). They languished in my stash for a while, but one day life was busy and my skin was stressed from dryness so I just popped three out and put them on my cheeks and forehead. Now, on busy mornings, that’s exactly what I do — put toner pads on my cheeks if there’s a gap in time between when my skin becomes uncomfortably dry and when I have a chance to do my routine, at which point I squeeze the rest of the toner out of the pad and pat it into my skin. I actually keep them on my desk for easy relief.
Price: $22 USD / 70 pads

🍒 Good Skin Days C’s the Day Serum

You’ve heard me talk about Good Skin Days C’s the Day Serum basically every month. In theory it expires in four months, in practice I always use it in about a month and a half so the oxidization is moot. Supremely non-sticky, supremely gentle, supremely brightening, surprisingly cost-effective — I’ll probably buy it forever. If you’re looking for a low percentage (10%) ascorbic acid to start your vitamin c journey, look no further. Plus, they run sales almost every holiday weekend!
Price: $26 USD / 30 mL

🐝 Some By Mi Propolis B5 Glow Barrier Calming Serum

I’m a sucker for propolis and had yet to try anything by Some By Mi, so when I heard about their Propolis B5 Glow Barrier Calming Serum it was an immediate *adds to cart* moment. This serum has 73% propolis extract as well as panthenol (vitamin B5) to fulfill its name, but it also has honey extract, royal jelly extract, niacinamide, lactobacillus extract, saccharomyces, mugwort, tea leaf water, coptic japonica extract, ceramide NP and a bunch of variations on cica. This has a nice, easy to apply texture and the pump format makes it really easy to use. The only drawback is that it does include fragrance, but I think they actually just amped up the honey smell. If you’re looking for propolis but want a “does it all” sort of serum, I’ve been super impressed with this.
Price: $20 USD / 50 mL

🧺 AMPLE:N Ceramide Shot Ampoule

If you’re into ceramides and into k-beauty, you’ve probably been debating the Ample:N Ceramide Shot Ampoule. This is one of the few 100 mL serums you can buy (though I got it in the 30 mL “mini” to try), making it the most cost effective ceramide serum I’m aware of, whether k-beauty or Western. But despite the price, this is a really nice serum. It doesn’t have the ceramide gloopiness of RNW or Kate Somerville, but still delivers skin supportive benefits with ceramides 1, 2 and 3, plus cholesterol, beta-glucan and niacinamide.
Price: $36 USD / 100 mL for the full size; shown in the $20 USD / 30 mL mini

🐌 Beauty of Joseon Repair Serum

I’m obsessed with skin barrier support and I’ve slowly become obsessed with Beauty of Joseon’s price point and formulation aesthetics, so I had to try their Repair Serum. While the trend in skincare tends to be focusing on one hero ingredient, Beauty of Joseon’s serums mix it up with having one star ingredient with a variety of back-up singers, if you will. This one features 63% ginseng root water and 3% snail mucin, plus a variety of plant and mushroom extracts for extra brightening and skin repairing benefits. The aesthetics of this are really lovely — there’s no snail gloopiness, the color is the yummy reddish-brown of ginseng, and the texture is just thick enough to be spreadable without remaining sticky on the skin.
Price: $17 USD / 30 mL

🌚 Sunday Riley Luna Retinol Sleeping Night Oil

I picked up the Sunday Riley Power Couples bundle on a whim during the last 21 Days of Beauty sale at Ulta, since Sunday Riley strikes me as one of those “nice formulations but at what cost” sort of brands. (To be fair, this is my issue with a lot of the popular Western brands). This is certainly the strongest retinol I’ve used to-date — when I started using it every night, I did experience a bit of purging on my nose. Because this an oil (a lovely blue one, thanks to the blue tansy oil), I’ve been putting this on towards the end of my routine. It smells delicious thanks to the fun, weird oils that they use, and I can see why this is popular if only for the aesthetics.
Price: $105 USD / 35 mL for the full size; shown in a mini size.

🛢 Derma: B Intensive Barrier Multi Oil

I love Derma:B for body skincare, and as you noticed above I’m obsessed with body oils for the bath, so I picked up the Derma:B Intensive Barrier Multi Oil intending to use it that way. Then I used it in the tub once and decided “well this is way too nice to use this way.” So I’ve actually upgraded it to a facial oil — which is, in fairness, how it’s intended. It’s basically the most affordable blended oil I’ve seen. This is mostly sunflower and grape seed oil, but includes a variety of other oils including fun ones like carrot, black currant and tea seed oils, plus a ceramide and variety of peptides because it’s k-beauty so why wouldn’t you stuff those in there? This does have a bit of a fragrance to it but it fades down quickly. I’ve been mixing this with the Luna oil and applying after moisturizer.
Price: $12 USD / 135 mL

👄 Biossance Squalane + Rose Vegan Lip Balm

I did a big old haul of Biossance last year, and the Squalane + Rose Vegan Lip Balm was my last hold-out. This lip balm is not particularly hydrating (I actually like their eye cream on my lips for hydration underneath) but it does a nice job of sealing things in and protecting. I do think there’s a compelling reason for them to have released it in a tube, however — as a tub it feels less sanitary, because you have to dig around for product, and at least in my case I struggle with getting it under my long nails. This definitely smells like rose initially but it fades down pretty quickly.
Price: $14 USD / 15g; shown in the discontinued tub format

☀️ Krave Beauty The Beet Shield

The Krave Beauty Beet Shield was one of my holy grails and, let’s be real, still is — it keeps my skin from burning and has a lovely finish. It was discontinued as part of the Great SPF Frustration of this past winter, but I continue to hope that they’ll tweak their balance of UV filters such that it can meet its stated SPF 50+ PA++++. This particular bottle has been hanging out with the mountain biking gear, as I find that it holds up really nicely against sweat. You’ll see this in a few more empties and openeds, as I’m still working through my backstock from last Black Friday even as I try to find what my next ride or die sunscreen will be.
Price: N/A — discontinued

😎 Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel

The Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel has been taking the skincare internet by storm since the Great SPF Frustration, because this recently released chemical sunscreen was shown to have SPF 50+ PA++++ through external validation. I usually avoid hyaluronic acid because it’s a recipe for sadness in a desert climate, but I haven’t experienced any drying with this sunscreen. It’s quite light and easy to rub in — even my husband is enjoying it, and he’s notoriously picky. We repurchased two when it was on sale at Yesstyle recently, but it’s generally on the less expensive side.
Price: $17 USD / 50 mL

🌱Abib Heartleaf Sun Essence Calming Drop

The Abib Heartleaf Sun Essence Calming Drop sounds like a serum because it basically is — except that it’s also SPF 50+ PA++++. This chemical sunscreen focuses on heartleaf, or houttuynia cordata extract, which is rich in polyphenols — one of which has been shown to decrease damage from UVB rays. Due to the serum bottle, this is relatively easy to measure out. I do find that it can pill when I do my longer morning routines, so I particularly like this for day when I’m keeping things simple. I can’t speak to how well it holds up with sweat, but it does seem to have a skin-softening effect.
Price: $23 USD / 50 mL